Grow a Cutting Garden February 18, 2014

Imagine filling every room in your home with colorful, garden-fresh flowers. You can create your own one-of-a-kind bouquets with flowers from your own cutting garden. The secret is to start with varieties that go from seed to bloom in short order. Just a handful of seed packets will produce armloads of flowers. It’s a wallet-friendly way to add colorful blooms to your garden and home.

Planting a Cutting Garden

Find a strip of ground in a sunny location that is about 3 feet wide and 15 feet long (the size may vary for your situation).

Prepare the beds by removing the sod and turning over the soil. Divide the strip into 3 foot squares with temporary strips of wood laid on the ground.

Within each square, follow packet instructions and plant the seeds, one variety per square.

Keep beds consistently moist.

When seedlings are up, thin the plants and mulch to keep weeds down.

If you are short on space, use large containers filled with potting soil to grow the flowers.

Flowers for this Look

Purple Zinnia

Pink Zinnia

Peach Cockscomb (Celosia cristata)

Rose Celosia (Celosia spicata)

Purple Gomphrena

Verbena on a stick (Verbena bonariensis)

Good to Know: Transporting Flower Arrangements

Here’s a way to deliver a bouquet without spilling water all over your car.

First, empty some, but not all of the water from the vase. Then place it in an ice chest or box that is a bit wider than the bouquet. Add some weight to the bottom of the holder using a brick or something heavy. Gently create a nest of crumpled newspapers around the container to keep it upright. Keep it away from heat and direct sun while you are transporting it. Replenish the water in the vase once you arrive at your destination.